It seems that our government in private, acts like Judas Iscariot, and in public like Pontius Pilate.
Behind closed doors they give the Kiss of Death to Democracy and deal in secret with their favoured few to the disadvantage of those who elected them, then in public, they pretend innocence and state that they do not want to influence any decisions for fear of it being seen as politicizing the outcome.
What utter hypocrisy and utter treachery, where they themselves have caused the situation and are blatantly assisting the proponent in every way possible to achieve a highly unsocial and unpopular outcome, and then actually expecting the public to challenge the results in a court of law and absolve themselves of the responsibility. This is a total abogation of duty and care, and reads like a handbook for corruption. They even pretend to fail to understand the very words they themselves have written into law – something that any schoolboy could translate for them.
Inside Gunns’ pockets, you will only find the Government and very little by way of money except some small change, and that largely from the benefice of Lara.
Gunns despite seemingly bankrupt still pulls the strings and the government jumps to its tune. Publicly they claim a mandate for their actions simply by having been voted into power; a mandate over an undisclosed issue that was deliberately not part of their election platform. No-one was aware of this debacle at the time of the election and did not give the government a mandate to try to pull it from the mire by any means possible, including emptying whatever remains of the Treasury into their coffers. We did not know that Gunns would take priority over Education, Hospitals and Nursing and the Police Force at the time, nor that they would invest our pension funds in Gunns as a company or use all the pension reserves for their own dubious purposes.
Did YOU give them a mandate for this when you voted for them? I certainly didn’t and I don’t know of anybody else who did. In fact, it appears they have assumed this ‘mandate’ for their own political ends. But on the other hand, by standing back from their actions and Lara announcing publicly that ‘she expected the public to take legal action over the Gunns permissions,’ she has washed her hands of her duties and by passing over the responsibility for action to the citizens, she is handing back this mandate to the people.
I think it is time to accept the challenge!
Seven years ago, Gunns was in a strong financial position to build this mill. They had everything going for them. Their shares were at an all-time high and a complicit government wrote them all the required permits and laws, wiped out the opposition in the RPDC, shackled the public with Section 11 of the PMAA and ‘educated’ the public on the benefits of a pulp mill – the saviour of Tasmania.
What more could they want?
But they failed!
They forgot one thing. The public did not want it and the residents of Tamar did not believe their crap. However, demonstrations of thousands did not deter them, but what stopped them was a concerted attack on their bottom line. And that is the approach that will stop them again!
Their financiers, ANZ Bank was targeted and demonstrations against the bank were successful when people threatened to close their accounts and disinvest. They suddenly found that the ‘Equator Principles’ that they had signed did not allow them to invest in projects of doubtful ecological repute, and this particular one stank! It still does, but the government, the market and Gunns itself has been continuously engaged in a greenwash campaign and trying desperately to give it some environmental credibility. They have gone from ECF to ‘Lite Chlorine’ bleach and decided against Old Growth processing due to market pressures. What they have omitted to tell anyone is that the new process using Hydrogen Peroxide and Chlorine as a bleach is more harmful and deadly than ECF alone, as it emits other toxins into the environment, including an endocrine disrupter for fish, none of which have ever been assessed in the permits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is the simplest peroxide (a compound with an oxygen-oxygen single bond) and an oxidizer. With its oxidizing properties, hydrogen peroxide is often used as a bleach or cleaning agent. The oxidizing capacity of hydrogen peroxide is so strong that it is considered a highly reactive oxygen species. Hydrogen peroxide is used as a propellant in rocketry.
Commercial grades from 70% to 98% are also available, but due to the potential of solutions of >68% hydrogen peroxide to be converted entirely to steam and oxygen (with the temperature of the steam increasing as the concentration increases above 68%) these grades are potentially far more hazardous, and require special care in dedicated storage areas.
Have you seen mention of this in the plans?
By getting the ANZ to disinvest, other banks followed suit and Gunns has struggled ever since to find a JVP. Gunns are in a far weaker position now and their share graph appears more like a downhill ski-run. They are bankrupt, in my opinion, and only by some pretty creative accounting and some imaginative talking have they persuaded the powers-that-be to allow them to continue trading. In fact, they have not even produced their AUDITED year-end accounts yet, and are two and a half months overdue. These audited accounts may show a different picture from their own version that they released to the ASX! To not produce these accounts by the end of this month is a criminal act under company law and ASIC seem to be mildly interested at present.
Their 23rd attempt at a JVP has been announced to the ASX in their latest release but has not, as usual, been named by Gunns. The cries of ‘Wolf’ are getting a little tedious. But even by their own accounts, they made a loss of $355 Million and they owe the ANZ Bank $350 Million due in January. With only $36 million in cash, largely due to the recent generosity of Lara, they are not in a good position to pay this money and they currently haven’t paid their suppliers and owe their latest contractors about $20 million for a couple of temporary dams. They recently announced that they wish to renegotiate the terms of their loan with the ANZ and presumably add back this debt to the remaining debt, making their borrowings close to $800 million. That is probably four times the current market value of the company!
However, the ANZ are still Gunns bankers and this is where Gunns can fail dramatically. If the ANZ recall their loan and refuse to renegotiate, then Gunns are sunk. They will HAVE to be wound up as they are then trading while insolvent, and no manner of fancy footwork will save them.
And this is where the pressure must be and the attack must be centered. Last time it stopped them for seven years, This time it will stop them permanently! If all individuals and groups join in an onslaught on the ANZ they will again have to look at their Equator Principles, as the recent leaked emails (Gunns: Do they deserve public funds) prove precisely what Gunns were up to, and how they have skewed these permissions in their favour. Further pressure must also be put on the ASX and ASIC, and between them they will bury Gunns.
Lara will be pleased by this, as the government does not have to get involved and the result will not have to be politicized …
